fyzygy

There's probably a lot of hype around ceremonial cacao, to justify the added value. According to one purveyor: There are two major common types of cacao beans–Criollo and Forastero. Forastero beans are more common for their sweetness and resilience to destruction in industrial farming. Therefore, those beans are more commonly used in today’s cacao products. On the other hand, ceremonial cacao powder is made using only Criollo beans, which are milder and have a higher concentration of restorative properties. Many advertise a "100% pure" ceremonial product -- although it's reported by scientists that cadmium contamination is an issue, depending on which region the beans were grown in.

https://archive.org/details/practicalscience0000prat A gentle introduction to the science of gardening.

^ Timeframe, dosage, etc.? The SSRI family are roughly comparable with placebo, in terms of treatment of depression, with a few adverse effects (like suicidal ideation, loss of libido) being added to one's laundry list of symptoms, for good measure. It's good to know about Kanna as a potential remedy. Personally, I've never noticed much of an effect -- is it something that takes repeated administrations in order to become effective?

The etiquette/policy of non-intervention in another's Ayahuasca "journey" seems draconian, under the circumstances. Purging seems to have been counter-therapeutic in this case, if the oesophageal tear (from excessive vomiting) was indeed the cause of death. I'd probably feel safer if my facilitator were trained in basic first aid, as well as traditional healing practices. Is kambo and ayahuasca an inherently dangerous combination?

I would like to try growing this. PM if you can supply me with a plant or cutting, etc.

NSW Coroner is examining two kambo-related deaths. This one, with a bit of "DMT toxicity" thrown in for good measure. https://www.echo.net.au/2023/05/inquest-into-death-of-jarrad-antonovich-begins/

Iresine spp., Pedilanthus tithymaloides, and Hippobroma longiflorum Brugmansia arborea, B. candida, B. sanguinea (Rätsch)

I have read that Iresenii herbstii is added to cimora for purposes of "black magic." Rätsch states that the Pernettya species known as "toro-maique" is used as a fortifying additive to the San Pedro drink. Brugmansia is also mentioned in his Encyclopaedia of Psychoactive Plants. Other additives such as "hornamo" and "condorillo" have not been botanically identified with accuracy, although his book gives references to some research literature.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-07/peyotes-ayahuasca-sydney-psychoactive-cacti-growers/102303642

Daffney/Gaffney - typo? Any info on traditional use of these plant/parts?

I think the idea of putting them inside beside a window is that condensation from the glass will provide humidity during the night. Whether they need it during dormancy, I'm not sure. I don't water any of my cactus plants over winter.

Like a lot of these plants, T. tetragonioides makes an excellent ground cover. I don't know why it's such an uphill battle persuading people to cook it and eat it. I think people are (literally) sold on supermarket varieties of fresh food. As for "weeds," even if they are superfoods ... forget it. Definitely needs cooking but, and I wonder if that has an effect on medicinal value?

Reproductive fitness, sure. Hence the compulsory sterilisation (etc.) of certain subgroups deemed (by a process of artificial, not natural selection) "unfit" to reproduce their genes. So there is a lot of play in the meaning of "fitness" in sociobiological contexts (physical, moral as well as biological meanings of the term). In colonial Australia, the decline of Indigenous populations was construed as a sign of their evolutionary unfitness, and the best white Australia could hope to do was "soothe the pillow of a dying race." That's not Darwinism, to be sure; but rather, "social darwinism" -- and the same could be said of any eugenics program. Darwin himself didn't believe in contraception, much less forced sterilisation. As for ecology (the ultimate arbiter of evolutionary fitness), it's absurd that Europeans would be better-adapted to the Australian climate than its native population. So environmental factors were eliminated from the calculus of social darwinism, in order to justify the "superiority" of the European mind, perceived as a biological inheritance which transcended climate and geography. In the second half of the 19th century, social darwinism justified dispossession (in tandem with the legal fiction of terra nullius, which it tended to reinforce): Indigenous Australians came to be seen as sub-human, some kind of "missing link" to primate ancestors. This was not Darwinism per se, but his biological theory was used, in practice, to legitimate the expansion of European empires in the name of (colonial) science.